His Majesty King Felipe of Spain visited the headquarters for the Spanish Army’s military operations on Thursday, May 27. The facility, located in Granada, is in charge of directing all matters related to training and logistics for the Army.
The centre is under the direct control of the Chief of Staff of the Army, just one rank below the Chief of the Armed Forces, a role that belongs to King Felipe as the head of State. In this facility, the Army will undertake training for various missions, teaching of military doctrine, coordination of logistics, among other functions. Previously, all these commands were scattered throughout Spain, and that made it really difficult to coordinate operations and to provide all military bases with the supplies they needed. This move is said to improve coordination, but also maximise the supplies the Army has at their disposal.
This visit comes in the wake of Spain’s Armed Forces day, which will be celebrated on Saturday, the 29th of May with a commemoration for those who died in combat in Madrid’s Loyalty Square (Plaza de la Lealtad). In accordance with the Spanish Government’s guidelines for preventing the spread of Covid-19, the ceremony will be scaled down and there will be no military parade. Following the commemoration, King Felipe will go to the General Quarters of the Military Chief of Staff, where he will be on a video call with multiple units of the various branches of the Armed Forces.
The King, as head of State, is also Commander in Chief (or Chief of the Armed Forces), a role for which he prepared since he left high school, undergoing training in all three branches of the military (army, navy and air force). It is rumoured that, after undergoing a year at an international high school in Wales (the same school that the Duchess of Brabant attended a few years back), his elder daughter, the Princess of Asturias, will also have to undergo military training.
